RESIDENTS in West Somerset will see a rise in their council tax bill after the district council agreed to raise it by 1.99%.

The decision was made at full council meeting last Wednesday and the move will mean an increase of 5p a week for the average Band D property.

West Somerset Council has put this down to losing a quarter of its Government funding in just two years and despite saving £307,000 a year through the Joint Management and Shared Services initiative with Taunton Deane Council, West Somerset Council was facing a budget gap in excess of £300,000.

According to the council, the solution is to raise council tax so as not to raid its reserves. Leader of the council, Cllr Tim Taylor, praised the partnership with Taunton Deane but said the decision to raise the council tax was a “difficult” one.

He said: “Being able to set a balanced budget has meant some difficult decisions – raising council tax by 1.99%, for example.

“But we are proposing to give some grants to organisations that help the most vulnerable within West Somerset, and we have avoided any significant impact on frontline services.”

Presenting the budget report, Cllr Kate Kravis, lead member for finance, said: “The proposed budget within this report achieves this aim – the budget is balanced without the need to use some of our general reserves.

“I would also like to highlight that whilst there are inevitably spending reductions in some areas, a key aim has also been to protect frontline services and this has been achieved through efficiency savings, limited budget reductions, reviewing fees and charges, and a small increase of 5p a week for average council tax charge for our services.”

Two amendments to the budget proposals were tabled by members of the Democratic Alliance to reinstate reductions in grants to Artlife and CLOWNS community groups from New Homes Bonus funding, but both were rejected.